Friday, November 11, 2011

Friday Floor Plan Porn: Sanford "Sandy" Weill

YOUR MAMAS NOTES: Today we offer the children a mouth-watering snippet of New York City floor plan porn courtesy of Josh Barbanel who yesterday presented a juicy real estate report in The Wall Street Journalabout the filthy rich former chairman and chief executive of Citigroup Sanford "Sandy" Weill who has officially listed his full-floor penthouse spread at the swish and swank 15 Central Park West building with a bone rattling asking price of–are y'all sitting down?–$88,000,000.

Mister Weill and his wife Joan shelled out $43,687,750–or $42,405,000 depending on where one looks–for the the deluxe 6,744 square foot penthouse back in August 2007. At the time it was one of the highest amounts paid per square foot for a private residence in Manhattan. The single-level, mansion-sized penthouse carries, according to listing information we peeped, monthly maintenance fees and taxes that total $13,824.

The 10-room aerie–perched atop the shorter of 15 Central Park West's two towers limestone-clad towers–has ceilings that soar to 12.5 feet; 19 French doors that open to a park- and city-view terraces that wraps around three sides of the apartment; a cavernous 825-plus square foot living room with fireplace; an adjacent and far more cozy library–also with fireplace–paneled in high-contrast Brazilian rosewood; a formal dining room; den/family room with wet bar; and an eat-in kitchen larger than the entire apartments of most Manhattanites.

Two family/guest rooms, each private windowed facility and small closet, open off the long rear hall and a third family or guest bedroom with private bath and walk-in closet has been, as indicated on the floor plan, incorporated into the sprawling corner master suite complete with three walk-in closets, a lavish windowed bathroom, and an elliptical bedroom with elaborate ribbed plaster walls and an unobstructed easterly view of the sunrise over Central Park.

Mister and Missus Weill had the building's much lauded and applauded architect Robert A.M. Stern do up the interior spaces that appear, but for a few quirks, very livable and well resolved. We're not thrilled that food servers must pass through the den/family room to get from the kitchen to the butler's pantry and formal dining room and we were utterly perplexed by the rather large walk-in wet bar stashed in to the rear hall opposite the bedrooms until we realized the set up is conveniently perfect for over-nighting booze hounds like Your Mama who sometimes require a little nip of gin in the middle of the night.

Once Mister Stern competed his work with the architecture, the Weill's had the day-core done up and did over in high (and very expensive) style by the eminent (and agéd) New York-based interior designer Mica Ertegun of MAC II and subsequently photographed by snapper Durston Saylor in all it's glossy glory for the April 2010 issue of Architectural Digest (as show in the above two pictures).

Mister Weill told The Wall Street Journal that he and the Missus '"are not leaving the city and giving up the wonderful opportunity to be New York City residents and New York City taxpayers."' He went on to tell Mister Barbanel that they've decided to sell their impossibly posh penthouse–at least in part–because it's '"a pretty good time" for wealthy Americans "to be quiet"" and are '"downsizing a little bit"' into another significantly smaller apartment they own in the building that the kids at Curbed long ago dubbed "The Limestone Jesus."

Far be it from Your Mama to toss an ugly wrench in things but we just find it a little difficult to believe that Mister and Missus Weill actually plan to decamp their nearly 7,000 square foot art-filled penthouse at 15 Central Park West to the comparatively minuscule 1,084 square foot one-bedroom apartment property records show they picked up in October 2007 for $978,737. Then again, what do we really know about anything?

It seems people of Mister and Missus Weill's extreme financial clout downsize and live quietly a wee bit differently than the average multi-millionaire or minimum wage worker. As far as Your Mama can tell based on property records and previous reports, the high-flying Weills continue to own a number of other luxury residences that include a substantial estate in a prime section of sleepy but oh-so-swank Greenwich, CT, a luxe-rustic camp in the Adirondacks region of Upstate New York, and a 392-acre spread with an 11,605 square foot mansion in Sonoma, CA they bought last year for a not very quiet $31,000,000.

It probably won't make a bit of difference to many if any of the 99-percenters who revile Mister Weill and insanely wealthy Wall Street plutocrats like him, but it should be (re-)reported he and his wife told Mister Barbanel they plans to donate the proceeds from the sale of the penthouse, which could stretch into the tens of million, to unspecified charitable organizations.

Other well-heeled owners of apartments at 15 Central Park West include celebs like Denzel Washington, and Sting and Trudy Styler as well as a slew of Wall Street fat cats likeGoldman Sachs CEO and chairman Lloyd Blankfein who paid $27,000,000 for his roost and hedge hog Daniel Loeb (who paid $45,000,000 for his 10,700 square foot two-unit combo crib) and Goldman Sachs CEO and chairman Lloyd Blankfein

37 comments:

Anonymous
said...

What a jack a&&.."time to be quiet"? As in... maybe if we are quiet they will leave us alone?? And I am glad he is happy to still be a NYC taxpayer, because the rest of you richies are jumping out of there like rats on the titanic Mr. Weil.

It is rather odd that there is no service elevator - how do deliveries get made? And the maids/tradesmen etc. get in and out? Prewar co-ops are famous for their elevator hierarchies (many of which do, in fact make sense)

Also - about that elliptical bedroom -- a careful look at the room shows that without angling the wall there would be no wall large enough to comfortably put a bed with night tables. There are either windows or door on every long wall. The bed actually faces due south (the manhattan grid is not actually centered on true north) Sotheby's explanation of the oval allowing for an eastern view of sunrise over the park is a stretch

Weill (pronounced 'Vile'?) was once on Forbes 400 list but fell off due to the precipitous drop in the value of Citigroup stock since the 2008 financial collapse. Maybe he can't continue to afford this castle like apartment. In any case, giving the proceeds to charity may, just may, help a wee bit to compensate for the fact that he was one of the villains who got Glass-Steagall repealed. It was the repeal of that and other regulations that permitted greedy bankers to go hog wild piling up debt. And it was that absurd amount of debt that was one of the main causes of the recent financial collapse from which the US still suffers greatly. Weill has a lot to make up for. An un-admirable man.

I adored this spread in AD and am loving the floor plan porn which is quite the redo of the original slotted floorplan. Love the article and wowza amazing $$$'s for this apartment. This truly is the Limestone Jesus!

I agree with earlier posters... the Oval Bedroom might not be the right taste for all... bit awkward.

12:09 PM, typical bitter poor person. why do poors have such animosity towards rich people. class warfare is so 1970s. get a life. and being the billionaire capital, i don't think nyc has to worry about finding "riches".

the library should be the dining room, allowing unfettered access without passing through the den...(sorry beds 3/4, but you're only guests anyway); and the dining room the library. Now you can close up the silly door to what is now the dining room and voila, a better place for the bed emerges.

Or perhaps swap kichen and den around...and you can breakfast outside on a nice NY summery sunday and have an even larger den...after all...at 88million, are they likely to boil their own eggs or poach their own kippers ?

$88M for the UWS? And not even a townhouse? I guess if you can push fraudulently rated securities to the unsuspecting public you figure somebody out there will buy it, thinking its a bargain. For 1/3 of the price, you can live someplace nice like St.Jean Cap Ferrat.

3:34: Americans, ordinary Americans with brains, have every reason to be enraged by the extremes of wealth and poverty that exist today. There is no question that the US is a society of an economic nobility (the 1%) lording it over varying degrees of serfdom (the rest). While the super rich have been winning the class battle (as Warren Buffett said) the tide may turn and things change. I suppose Louis XVI didn't imagine in 1788 that he would be mounting the steps to the guillotine a few years later. PS you have no way of knowing that 12:09 is poor (I presume that is a term of contempt for you). Buffett who also thinks the super rich have gotten away with "theft" at least is not poor. And others like Ritholz feel the same way.

you're clearly one of the lower class. let me guess, the 99%? if you must know, the highest sales prices in new york have been on the west side from what i gather. the time warner, fifteen central park west.

it always amuses me how the common brain thinks. for xx we can get xx instead for cheaper. we have it all silly. we can afford it all. we can have the high priced new york penthouse AND whatever other homes we wish to acquire. no substitutions necessary.

fyi -- nobody lives in saint jean cap ferrat, silly. we summer there. people who matter live in the world's capitals -- new york, london, paris, and fly to our other homes in saint jean cap ferrat (or seyshelles, amalfi or dalmatian coast) on a whim or during the in season.

people who live in cap ferret or hamptons year round are domestic help or 85 year old codgers with one lobb or hermes loafer in the grave. suspect most high earners, trust funders, socialites, etc. would rather die than be caught dead in hamptons or riviera villas for more than a week at a time after august. it just doesn't happen.

you poors amuse me. such bitterness and jealousy. but i don't expect any better from a self proclaimed and clearly impoverished and taste devoid hippy.

Such hatefulness 12:11am, but remember wealth is not permanent for anyone. Those who tend to stay wealthy, tend to live without ostentation. See Warren Buffet.

"Many" of the super rich and wealthy will have low achieving kids who believe money is only for spending on material things. No "substantial" money coming in to fund your lifestyle, future broke-dom here you come.

Live a life that you can afford and maintain YOURSELF, should be universal for ALL.

12:11, you have the attitude of a certain permanent resident of the penal system that you probably used to dine with regularly. I will give you a hint, the last name starts with M.

I have quite a bit of money for the area that I live in, not NY thief money, but I do well. Your comment about St. Jean Cap Ferrat and the other places is true so I actually believe you are legitimate.

However what people like you fail to understand that there comes a point when you steal so much and inequality becomes so bad that you will basically have to fear for your life. I am sorry, living in a gated neighborhood, in a gated house with guard dogs, armed guards and bulletproof cars is a pretty pathetic way to live life.

I would rather have $100 million and be able to walk around and drive around freely than have a billion dollars and have to constantly be looking over my shoulder.

People such as yourself have this perfect Utopian society in your mind where you have all the money and no one else does. Take a look at that Venezuelan baseball player that was kidnapped and the others like him who have family members kidnapped there regularly, this is your future. Every time your wife goes shopping or your daughter leaves the house they and you will have to live in constant fear of being robbed, kidnapped, killed etc etc.

I am sorry, that kind of life sucks and if you think that a life surrounded by constant security, who by the way you have to hope does not betray you, is the way to live, then you have a pretty sad life.

Good grief, I'm getting tired of this BS, on both sides of the aisle. @3:34 PM/12:11 AM, you're a trouble making poser. Wealthy people don't talk like you, or refer to those with less money as "poors". Are you kidding me??? lol

I won't bother taking your statements apart point by point, but FYI, I know of several people who either are, or are heirs to, billion dollar fortunes who live in East Hampton year round, all in their late 30's and early 40's. They are from European families, and as such also have homes elsewhere, but their base, the place they call home, and where they live for at least 85% of the year - including Winter - is East Hampton. One is particularly well known there because of his very generous ongoing philanthropic contributions to the community (the less fortunate in particular) since his arrival, which you'd be aware of if you actually knew anything.

BTW, Hippie Canyon's comments are typically on topic, insightful, and not used to launch into personal attacks. It's the difference between having a touch of class and a whole lot of crass. Hello

12:11 I have no idea if you are trying to be funny. In any case you are. You give a hilarious insight into many brains, so called, of the rich but not well educated or very cultured. St. Jean Cap Ferrat is nice enough to live there year round. Only silly people do what everyone else "in their circle" do without regard to what suits them. I'd be quite happy to be "caught dead" and live there year round whether my other friends did or did not. But then I am an individual, not a (rich brainless) cow in a herd of cattle.

Why do I feel like Average Joe went to a Swiss finishing school, had his meds adjusted, and has returned to talk to himself about the rich and poor? I have only met one really rich couple. They were very nice people but Richard Landry designed their Malibu back yard and there are some things one simply cannot forgive.

I realize that a seller usually doesn't (and shouldn't) lay out his or her domestic and personal lives in real estate listing photos. But even making allowance for that fact, this apartment seems so corporate and impersonal and bloated. It's like the sprawling lobby of a faux-boutique hotel catering to brittle, status-conscious, upscale business travelers with a taste for Euro-flavored, deco-ish, modern-ish luxeries (but nothing too daring, please). It's at least a little terrifying to imagine the souls and personalities of people who would choose to live in such a personal environment where there are clearly resources that would allow almost any environment to have been selected.

It is rather odd that there is no service elevator - how do deliveries get made? And the maids/tradesmen etc. get in and out? Prewar co-ops are famous for their elevator hierarchies (many of which do, in fact make sense)

Notice that one of the elevators is larger than the other, that is the service elevator. It is most likely finished out much like the passenger elevator but with much higher ceilings and called separately and primarily used for building staff, pets, and workmen. In the event that it needs to be used for move in and move outs or the transportaion of construction supplies it would be fitted with a rubber floor and thick padded removable wall coverings but generally very similar to the passenger elevator in the event that the occupant was obligated to ride in it do to an elevator outage, walking their own pet or similar indignity.

To many, 88M for a home is to them what $200,000 is to you (the average American middle class).

According to the a rule, your home should no be more than 35% of your net worth. This man (and the next buyer who will be part of his class) can WAY more than afford such a home. 88M to the seller is the equivalent of a "normal" house relative to his income. Billionaires can afford much more.'

Question: Does anyone ever hear of homes in these uber Manhattan or Kensington Palace Gardens in London or Monaco going into foreclosure? NO. PRACTICE WHAT YOU PREACH AND REIGN IN *YOUR* EXCESSIVE SPENDING.

50% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck..and you have the nerve to tell very rich people to do with their money and bemoan them for their "excessive spending"?!

Unlike you everyday overextended middle-class American folks, billionaires and ultra high net worth people are smarter with their money and clearly live more frugal than you all *RELATIVE TO THEIR INCOME* (key phrase here, remember it the next time you all go on another communist rant)

Billionaires can do what they want with their money. I don't really care.

But to pretend the rich never lose everything is crazy. There are, of course, far fewer foreclosures for the wealthy but I have two names for you: Robert Bisno (lost his house in Beverly Park to foreclosure) and Victoria Hearst lost a couple of properties worth tens of millions in foreclosure.

Sometimes rich people mismanage their own money too.

But even still, when a rich person loses it all, they're typically not broke. Just suffering from reduced cirmcumstances.

But that's very very rare. You hardly ever hear of high profile properties going into foreclosure. You never hear of billionaires getting their homes foreclosed. However, 250,000+ "normal" folks got their homes foreclosed last month. The American middle-class is more materialistic than the upper-class since the upper-class can actually afford luxury items.

The $88,000,000 price tag may seen obscene to "normal folk" but $88,000,000 to a billionaire is nothing.

Regarding the hotel-ish aspect of the decor, I think that with that many homes, one relies on decorators who just put stuff there; it's not like you pick stuff out personally. They spend so much time in hotels anyway.

Example #1: A certain man, when he was a child, lived with his family on a 5,000 acre estate just outside of Atlanta. During the summer, they would pack everyone up -including most of the inside servants- and go to one of the bluff houses on Mackinac Island- via a couple private railcars.

When this person died he owned 3 1/2 acres and was a salesclerk at the local Radio Shack. He was a great guy and remembering him by typing this makes me almost cry.

Example #2: When his mother was a small child, she would help her daddy push a wheelbarrow up to an overhang a couple hundred yards from their house and break off chunks of coal that they would take to town and sell. They also sold strawberries from their garden. When she grew up and got married she and her husband managed to put their son through an Ivy-League college.

That son and his wife now divide their time between numerous luxurious properties that they commute between via private jet. They are kind (to everyone) and sincere people who have made their money honestly.

Example #3: a (foreign) gentleman, whose famiy's company had been in business for 150 years, sold out to start another new kind of business. He sat on many boards and was a very well-respected man.

His son gets in the same business. Nowadays the son and his wife's domestic staff includes a car mechanic, kept busy in the 36-vehicle garage next to their ever so tasteful Georgian pile of a house.

Both the father and son had built and maintained their positions by being known as scrupulously honest individuals.

Some are going up, some are coming down, some haven't changed for ages ... Easy come, easy go I guess.